WITCHCRAFT & WIZARDRY

dependent mumu by tri for reveliohq.

ARIEL MACKAY: intro , tags , wanted connections

JAMES POTTER: intro , tags , wanted connections

RITA SKEETER: intro , tags , wanted connections

          sirius  was  never  one  to  start  a  grudge  ,  but  they  were  one  to  maintain  it  .  what  exactly  was  sirius’s  grudge  against  james  ?  in  this  very  moment  ,  it  was  nothing  in  particular  ,  more  an  ACCOMULATION  of  things  that  lead  to  this  .  there  is  no  reason  that  sirius  should  be  withholding  an  apology  to  james  ,  of  all  people  —  one  of  the  few  in  their  life  that  could  even  begin  to  understand  why  they  committed  such  an  act  .  so  sirius’s  pride  makes  him  take  extra  care  to  avoid  the  potters  on  the  platform  when  both  departing  and  leaving  hogwarts  .  there  had  been  a  run  in  with  the  couple  over  summer when  they  had  been  surprised  to  hear  that  sirius  was  ,  indeed  ,  still  very  much  homeless  and  very  much  not  living  with  them  .  he’s  not  sure  how  he  avoided  euphemia  and  fleamont’s  hospitality  ,  but  they’re  sure  that  james  never  heard  the  end  of  the  fact  that  he  was  letting  his  BEST  FRIEND  be  homeless  and  not  even  offer  said  best  friend  the  extra  bedroom  in  their  house  over  summer  .  there’s  a  part  of  sirius  that  feels  satisfaction  with  knowing  this  fact  ,  if  they  were  being  frank  .                the  small  sense  of  satisfaction  in  a  sea  of  discomfort is  the  only  thing  that  gives  them  the  motivation  to  face  the  trio  when  they’re  required  to  be  in  their  dormitories  .  he’s  still  rather  unsure  on  if  their  former  best  friends  want  them  to  be  involved  with  conversations  or  not  ,  so  his  curtains  stay  drawn  half  the  time  ,  undrawn  the  other  half  .  there’s  an  occasional  humorous  glance  given  to  peter  when  a  joke’s  made  ,  but  they  largely  sit  on  the  outside  .  there’s  a  small  part  of  them  that  wonders  if  this  is  how  their  partners  felt  all  throughout  the  years  ,  peering  into  only  a  small  piece  of  reality  when  you   know  there’s  more  to  the  story  .  they’ve  made  a  mental  note  ,  in  case  they  ever  make  amends  with  everyone  ,  to  share  this  REVELATION  ,  hoping  that  it  would  help  james’s  little  …   lily  problem  .           if  anything  ,  by  a  little  over  a  week  into  the  year  ,  sirius  has  become  more  than  use  to  running  into  the  marauders  .  they  did  not  wish  to  speak  to  him  and  sirius  was  not  sure  where  to  BEGIN  to  speak  to  them  —  everyone’s  stubbornness  finally  worked  in  their  favor  .  james’s  less  than  dramatic  entrance  made  sirius  raise  an  eyebrow  ,  a  small  roll  of  their  eyes  as  they  go  back  to  working  on  their  homework  .  “  same  to  be  said  to  you  ,  decided  that  you  had  enough  of  ogling  charity  now  ,  have  you  ?  ”  there’s  only  a  second  of  a  glance  up  to  see  james  throw  his  robe  down  in  a  tantrum  ,  widening  his  eyes  in  only  mild  shock  before  their  quill  resumes  scratching  .  james  WAS  always  one  to  throw  a  fit  when  it  did  not go  his  way  ,  and  things  between  the  two  of  them  was  certainly  not  going  his  way  .

               he  couldn’t  control  himself  any  longer  —  he  was  shaking ,  and  bubbling ,  and  it  was  all  going  to  flow  over  eventually ,  so  why  stop  it  now ?  pulling  at  his  tie  with  such  force  that  he  nearly  choked  himself ,  james  set  his  jaw  tightly  and  finally  did  what  he’d  been  avoiding  for  months  now  —  looked  at  sirius .  really  looked  at  them .  a  wave  crashed  over  the  room ,  sweeping  up  the  anger  and  tossing  it  roughly  with  the  love  that  still  beat  through  his  veins  for  them ,  muddling  it  so  that  the  lines  were  so  blurred ,  it  was  hard  to  tell  what  he  was  feeling .  all  he  knew  was  that  he  was  feeling  a  lot  of  it .  james  always  had  felt  too  much  —  loved  too  hard ,  hated  too  much  —  but  he’d  always  been  able  to  understand  his  emotions ,  especially  when  it  came  to  others .  good  was  love ,  evil  was  hate .  when  james’  eyes  locked  on  sirius ,  the  waters  were  so  muddy ,  and  he  couldn’t  see  a  damned  thing  —  good ?  evil ?  both ?  neither ?   it  didn’t  make  sense .                 pulling  his  tie  up  and  over  his  head ,  james  broke  eye  contact  to  throw  it  on  the  bed  next  to  his  cloak ,  fiddling  with  the  buttons  of  his  shirt  next .  his  uniform  suddenly  felt  so  tight ,  like  it  was  suffocating  him .                 “  you’re  a  fucking  idiot . ”  the  words  fell  out  of  his  mouth  before  he  even  knew  what  he  was  saying .  instinctive ,  at  the  mention  of  charity .  defensive .  the  problem  was  between  them ,  why  the  fuck  did  he  feel  the  need  to  bring  up  charity ?  a  small  grunt  of  frustration  sounded  from  the  back  of  his  throat  as  james  continued  to  struggle  with  his  buttons ,  now  halfway  down  his  shirt .  “ i  can ‘  ogle  ’  my  girlfriend  all  i  fucking  like .  it’s  you  that  should  be  keeping  your  eyes  to  your  damned  self . ”  why  did  he  feel  the  need  to  bring  that  up ?  well ,  it  was  perhaps  this  —  right  now ,  in  james’  eyes ,  sirius  was  not  good .  they  might  not  have  been  evil ,  but  they  weren’t  good .  and  james  knew  them  better  than  anyone .  and  from  the  depths  of  something  in  him ,  james  felt  the  need  to  tell  sirius  to  back  off ,  as  if  in  those  depths  he  feared  what  sirius  and  charity  might  get  up  to  if  they  were  alone . defensive . “  whatever , ”  he  muttered .  “  was  just  trying  to  be  civil . ”

❛   they  can  bite  .  but  at  least  they  aren’t  trolllike  .    ❜  siena  offers  in  response  ,  both  their  professors’s  lectures  and  his  appearance  at  the  front  of  their  mind  .  she’s  not  awfully  fond  of  the  man  ,  but  his  class  is  her  favourite  when  he  isn’t  discussing  theoretical  information  .  if  she  wanted  theory  ,  she’d  read  it  in  a  book  .  and  ,  she  does  .  ❛  ooh  ,  now  that’s  a  good  bet  .  i’ll  take  that  action  .  four  galleons  it  is  .   ❜

“  oh  merlin ,  let  him  bring  in  a  troll  —  then  maybe  our  daft  old  headmaster  will  realise  he’s  putting  us  in  danger .  ”  rita  knew  that  siena  was  fond  of  care  of  magical  creatures ,  but  she  had  never  been  one  to  bite  her  tongue  —  she  wasn’t  overly  fond  of  the  subject  herself .  she  should  try  to  be  respectful  though ,  for  siena’s  sake .  “  PERFECT .  oh ,  darling ,  this  reminds  me  —  have  you  had  a  class  with  bode  yet ?  i  hear  she  was  a  curse  breaker  in  her  time ,  one  of  the  little  third  years  told  me  she’s  got  much  more  to  say  then  ambarella  ever  did .  ”

kitty’s head jerked up from her herbology notes when she heard ariel’s  ‘ psst ‘   —   she had a knotgrass clipping taped to the inside of her note - book and was trying to draw an accurate rendering of the clipping so she could finally rip the damn thing out.   it was making it seriously hard to close,  and also the whole thing smelled so very green now.   she was a more than passable artist but found she was having some difficulty in choosing how to depict its budding flowers.                    the distraction would’ve been welcome coming from anyone,  but was,  like,  doubly welcome when it was ariel.   kitty made eye contact with ariel,  head nodding almost before she registered giving it permission to.                                 she’d already half - slid out of her seat by the time she replied.  

“ you’re a menace of a study buddy,  is what you are.   but luckily I like that in a study buddy,  so we’re quite well - matched. “   she’d slipped out of her shoes at some point whilst trying to get the leaves just right,  so her footsteps were suitably silent as she made her way towards ariel’s seat.   “ after we find this book of yours,  you can help me figure out if it’s worth getting some color on my herbology notes or if I’m,  like,  generally smart enough to know that leaves are green without it.   c’mon;   what book are we on the hunt for? “ 

             ariel’s lips split into a grin, a hint of pride beneath her features — the title of menace was one she would wear well, especially if it was coming from kitty.                            slipping out from behind the desk, tossing her grin in the direction of the librarian who gave the pair a look, ariel reached out to clasp kitty’s hand. “ i knew i kept you around for a reason, ” ariel teased, pulling her fellow blonde towards the rows of shelves, turning back around to face kitty and walking backwards once they were hidden behind the books. “ colour would be a pretty sexy touch, but if it keeps you away from me any longer, then keep the damned thing black, babe. ” 

          keeping a grip on kitty’s hand, ariel finally stopped and leaned against one of the shelves. “ fuck the book, i just needed a BREAK. i know it’s for, like, our ‘ safety ’ or whatever, but i’m getting pretty sick of being constantly watched. i haven’t even had a smoke for a week ‘cause there’s always eyes on us now. i feel like i’m back in the crazy bin. rest in peace ambarella, or whatever, but give me a break, y’know? ”

❛  positively  parched  .   ❜  the  blonde  agreed  ,  relief  flooding  her  hazel  hues  as  she  offered  her  arm  for  the  other  witch   to  take  .  it  was  an  absent  minded  gesture  ,  a  sickly  sweet  invitation  usually  reserved  for  the  most  intimate  of  companions  within  her  ranks  .  emma  had  many  a  memory  of  her  mother  mirroring  the  same  gesture  with  her  close  cohorts  .  it  seemed  only  natural  for these  misfits  to  fall into  step  with  eachother  as  they  snuck  towards  oblivion  .   ❛  now  is  there  a  reason  for  your  onslaught  of  insomnia  or  did  you  just  MISS me  and  conveniently  knew  where  to  stumble  across  my  delightlful  company   ?   ❜

     with  a  familiar  smile ,  ariel  looped  her  arm  through  emma’s  and  pulled  the  girl  in  close ,  resting  her  head  upon  the  other’s  shoulder .  ariel  always  had  been  an  affectionate  girl ,  though  these  days  it  was  more  often  reserved  for  those  she  felt  comfortable  with .  it  was  odd ,  was  it  not ,  that  emma  vanity  should  sit  under  that  umbrella .  “ i  ALWAYS  miss  you ,  just  like  i  ALWAYS  don’t  sleep .  so  of  course ,  my  answer  is  both . ”  ariel  squeezed  lightly  on  emma’s  arm  as  they  walked  closer  to  the  kitchen’s ,  as  if  to  make  sure  she  was  still  there  —  still  real .  “ it’s  the  nightmares .  they’re  a  right  fucking  bitch . ”

❛   at  least  they’ve  stopped  trying  to  convince  us  that  like  ,  nargles  and  the  like  exist.     ❜  siena  replies  with  a  laugh  .  they  can  cope  with  a  great  many  things  -  but  there  are  just  some  things  that  even  the  most  open  of  minds  cannot  take  .  she  can  recall  the  lesson  of  metamorphmagus’s  too  ,  and  just  how  wrong  the  books  had  been  .  as  much  as  the  textbooks  are  to  be  praised  ,  not  all  of  it  can  be  taken  seriously  .  ❛  what  kind  of  friend  would  i  be  if  i  didn’t  ?  i’ll  ,  hmm  ,  i’ll  bet  you  four  galleons  it’s  lovegood  .   ❜

rita’s laugh rung out loud and proud, bouncing off the walls of the great hall with a sheer sting. “ merlin, i was sure professor kettleburn was off his rocker when he started on that one. though at least invisible little bugs can’t kill you, unlike a number of his other main features. ” tapping her nails on the wooden table, rita provided her friend with a wide grin. “ well i’d be silly to take up a bet like that, darling, that’s just certainty. what if we say four galleons that lovegood doesn’t try to mount one of the stupid things ? ”

If she was honest, Alice had a bit of a tragic love life. Tragic probably wasn’t the word. It wasn’t tragic, but like hopeless. She wasn’t very good. Sure, she was pretty good at flirting, but an actual relationship. She was pretty tragic at. Maybe it all stemmed from one James Potter. But she doubted it. They had been twelve when they dated, and only for like three months, even if had felt like a life time. It didn’t matter though. They were pretty decent friends. Spending time in the same house, and playing for the same quidditch team would do that. Spying him, the sixth year had a smile on her face as she plopped down beside him. “You better be ready to win the quidditch cup this year Potter” @vvitchcraftt​

      at the sound of her voice, james looked up, offering alice a proud beam. housemates, teammates, childhood friends ( woeful lovers, for what twelve year olds could piece together ) — james and alice went way back, and it was nice to have some sense of familiarity in his life right now. a constant. reaching up to give alice a solid pat on the back, james laughed. “ funny that you’d think i WOULDN’T be ready, fortescue ! i’ve been ready for months now, eh ? as long as you keep that bat swingin’, i can keep the quaffle movin’. ”

As per normal, Pandora tried her best to maximize how quickly she could get to practice in the shortest amount of time. There was never enough seconds to spare and there could always be improvements on time. She expected to be the first person on the pitch, as she was doing her test run. Giving herself enough wiggle room in case anything would go wrong. She wasn’t going to let her cloak get caught on the stairs and cause her to be late because of a minor miscalculation. A new record for sure, but she was not the only person at the pitch. Pandora did tense, James and her had an interesting relationship. It was amazing what a comment from a boy could do to someone. Yet, James almost seemed as he didn’t noticed how exactly he made her feel. She closed her eyes to take in her breathe. Pandora looked over to James with a pushed on smile. “Not early enough,” she started with a small laugh. “Just trying to get here the fastest, but looks like you beat me out.”

there was a silence that settled over the teammates after the initial ‘ greeting ’, something james was painfully aware of and made ridiculously uncomfortable by. james potter didn’t do silence, it was filled by far too many questions that his brain filtered through at the speed of a snitch. and usually, he didn’t have to encounter such silences — in fact he prided himself on being able to maintain conversation with his usual charm and smiles — but there was something that hung over him and pandora that sometimes had him stopping before he spoke. it was confusing, and he didn’t understand it, and it was frustrating, because why the hell should she be any different ? rubbing a hand behind his neck, james chuckled ( somewhat awkwardly ) and tucked his broom under his arm. “ uh, you — you practice much over the summer ? can’t have ye faltering now, the last thing we need is a keeper not on the top of their game. not that — not that you wouldn’t be, just, y’know, something to keep in mind. but, uh — shacklebolt is gonna tell us that anyway, eh ? ” what the fuck ???

Alice was rarely hesitant about her friendships. She found friendships fast, and she cared about people fast too. She supposed that was probably what had made her so upset when Ariel hadn’t wanted to be friends. It was something she’d grown to expect from the purebloods. But the last place she had expected to find it was with her dorm mates. Gryffindor felt so much like home, and yet she’d always been wary of Ariel. The first few years Alice had thought it was something she had done. But then she’d decided to stop thinking like that. She wasn’t going to let her self-confidence be impacted because one girl didn’t want to be friends with her.

But then it had all changed over the summer. It had taken her a week after the letter had fallen on the Fortescue’s doorstep for her to even reply. Then though, some sort of friendship had begun. She didn’t want how to was going to transpire here though. Part of Alice had just been expecting Ariel to drop her again, to pretend that she didn’t exist, like she had for the last five years. “Yeah….” She murmured, biting on her lip. She hoped Ariel didn’t think that an apology was going to make Alice forget all the hurt that she’d felt when Ariel had constantly pushed her away. She might want to be friends now, but she wasn’t going to forget so easily. “But…..” She murmured, biting on her lip a little. “I think we could do that…. I mean….. I’d like to be friends.”

ariel might have understood alice’s hesitance — but that didn’t stop her from resenting it. like a fish out of water, ariel flopped from frustration to understanding when it came to her dorm-mate. doesn’t she understand what i’ve been through? i ignored her for five years. she was friendly over the letters, she helped me when i needed it. i left her in the dust for nearly two weeks. it was tough to keep up with the stance she was at by the time she spoke. maybe it was somewhere in the middle. 

“ good, yes, we can — and you know, there’s the others, uh, lily, pandora, wilda, marls, we can — we can all be friends i think — you know, that’d be nice, probably. don’t you think ? ” ariel paused, catching her breath and letting her head fall with a slight shake. “ but it’s — this is mostly about you. because... because it was you that helped me when... when i felt like i was crashing. when she — and then when i — but, like, we don’t have to talk about that, or whatever, if you don’t want to, or if, like, it’s too much, because i know it’s — it’s a lot. ”

ariel could feel herself slowly going i n s a n e. the rules that had been put in place following the announcement of professor ambarella’s murder death felt like a chokehold on ariel’s incessant need to keep moving to stay alive. and she understood that the rules were merely for that of their own safety, but if one more prefect told her this, she thought perhaps she might be ending up in detention. she was exhausted, and energised, and buzzing, and flatlining, and confused. but she was trying — she wanted to prove that she could handle stability. that she could do what she was told, even if all she wanted to do was scream.

it was deadly silent in the library as the senior students sat for their study period. so silent it was deafening. ariel tapped the point of her quill in a fast pace atop the wood table, chewing on the nails of her other hand to keep her mouth shut. why the fuck was it so quiet ? ariel couldn’t help herself — looking up across the table, ariel locked eyes with the first person she could and psst’d to get their attention. “ come find a book with me ? ” she hissed, ensuring the librarian who sat four tables away couldn’t hear them. “ i’m a super fun study buddy, swearsies. ”

who  :  ​​​anyone​​​  ! where :  hogwarts  grounds  !

❛   i  like  care  of  magical  creatures  ,  really  i  do  .   ❜  siena  insists  ,  and  it’s  true  .  of  all  her  classes  ,  care  and  herbology  have  to  be  her  favourites  .  except  for  a  few  simple  facts  .  ❛   but  —  um  ,   ❜  a  pause  ,  the  witch  tugging  at  her  fingers  .   ❛  we’re  studying  thestrals  ,  but  unless  i  plan  to  watch  someone  die  first  -  i’ve  no  hope  of  seeing  them  ,  if  .  .  .  if  they  even  do  exist  .   ❜

     “  whoever  decided  that  THESTRALS  should  be  on  the  curriculum ,  it  is  in  my  humble  opinion ,  wants  to  watch  the  world  burn .  ”  the  words  were  followed  by  a  huff  that  could  on  one  hand  be  described  as  a  scoff  and  on  the  other ,  a  laugh .  “  i  mean ,  they’re  just  pandering  to  the  crazies ,  aren’t  they  ?  siena ,  my  love ,  you  will  just  have  to  be  a  dear  and  tell  me  which  one  of  your  classmates  claims  to  see  them  this  year .  that’s  certain  to  give  me  a  laugh .  ”

          one  of  the  things  that  molly  had  been  warned  about  was  retribution  to  their  own  FRIENDS  that  they  would  have  to  hand  out  .  if  only  they  had  caught  james  when  they  were  not  a  prefect  and  this  was  a  different  time  …  “james  potter!  someone  was  just  MURDERED  and  you  still  have  to  get  it  in  ?  shame  on  you!  ”  they  straighten  their  back  ,  eyes  narrowing  at  james  as  he  tries  to  slip  his way  out  of  this  .  they  weren’t  LILY  or  REMUS  —  charm  would  only  make  it  worse.  besides  ,  it  was  better  for  him  to  learn  now  rather  than  later  .  “50  points  from  gryffindor  and  two  days  worth  of  detention  .  you’re  a  sixth  year  ,  you  know  better  .  ”  she  meets  his  grin  with  a  deep  scowl  ,  hoping  that  he  doesn’t  see  her  shaking  hands  when  she  rounds  on  him  , staring  him  down  .  “  close  the  door  and  move  it  .  this  isn’t  a  muggle  picture  show  .  ”  they  can’t  help  but  feel  more  than  a  tad  bit  insulted  at  the  fact  that  he  would  even  try  to  get  out  of  it  ,  you  would  think  that  knowing  someone  for  a  lifetime  would  make  you  smarter.

     it  was  not  often  that  molly  was  wrong —  and  by  merlin  were  they  right  about  now .  someone  was  just  murdered  and  hadn’t  he  told  himself  coming  into  this  year  that  he  would  take  things  seriously  ??   he  would .  he  was  !!   this  was  just  different —  molly  just  couldn’t  understand  that . “  i  know ,  i  know ,  i  was  just —  ”  his  excuse  was  cut  off  by  the  punishment  that  had  been  handed  out ,  the  sloppy  grin  from  earlier  officially  dead .   “  merlin ,  molls ,  you’re  handing  ‘em  out  tough ,  aren’t  ya  ?  ”   straightening  his  back ,  james  pushed  away  from  the  door ,  pretending  not  to  notice  the  slight  tremble  in  her  hands  (  he  took  her  seriously  anyway ,  that  he  didn’t  have  to  pretend  ) .  “  m’sorry ,  i  am ,  wasn’t  thinking  i  suppose .  ”  he  certainly  hadn’t  been  thinking  when  he’d  tried  to  charm  his  way  out  of  it —  that  sort  of  thing  hadn’t  worked  on  them  for  at  least  six years .  offering  a  woeful  shrug ,  james  went  to  move  past  molly  and  back  towards  the  tower  when  a  sudden  thought  made  him  pause .  “  they’re  not  making  you  do  these  patrols  alone . . .  are  they  ?  ”